Question

7.) What are the implications for the reader in the line, "For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you"?

A) The reader and the speaker are both the same age.
B) The reader is invited to take the speaker's possessions.
C) The reader and the speaker share the same physical body.
D) The reader and the speaker share the same essence.


8.) I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
What implication is suggested in these two lines?
A) Loafing is an inappropriate activity.
B) Loafing is only appropriate for poets.
C) Loafing is a neutral activity, neither good nor bad.
D) Loafing is permissible, especially when studying nature.


9.) My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
What implications do these lines of the poem have regarding the question of national identity?
A) These lines suggest that nations don't exist in nature; only people do.
B) These lines suggest that national identity might exist in nature, but isn't important.
C) These lines suggest that anyone can claim whatever national identity seems convenient at any given time.
D) These lines suggest that national identity is forged through having deep ancestral roots in a place.

Answer 1

7. Answer: D) The reader and the speaker share the same essence.

This is a line from the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman. In this poem, the author states that he will celebrate himself. He then invites the reader to do so as well, because "for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." This implies that Whitman believes that the author and him share the same essence, so that everything that is good in one, is good in the other one.

8. Answer: D) Loafing is permissible, especially when studying nature.

Loafing didn't have a negative connotation back then, it simply referred to relaxing and dwelling on something, it wasn't just about being lazy. Loafing is permissible and his watching the plants is making him find a deeper meaning in life and in nature.

9. Answer: D) These lines suggest that national identity is forged through having deep ancestral roots in a place.

His national identity of loving America which is also seen in his other poems stems form the idea that his forefathers and their forefathers were born there and they all shared the same experience of the land and nature and it is now his thing.

Answer 2

The correct answer for 1 is D) The reader and the speaker share the same essence.

The reader and the speaker and all other people on the planet share the same essence. This is a very transcendentalist thought that we are all connected and are one and the same soul and should not take that lightly. Here ti isn't about physical even though atoms are a physical thing.

The correct answer for 2 is D) Loafing is permissible, especially when studying nature.

Loafing didn't have a negative connotation back then, it simply referred to relaxing and dwelling on something, it wasn't just about being lazy. Loafing is permissible and his watching the plants is making him find a deeper meaning in life and in nature.

The correct answer for 3 is D) These lines suggest that national identity is forged through having deep ancestral roots in a place.

His national identity of loving America which is also seen in his other poems stems form the idea that his forefathers and their forefathers were born there and they all shared the same experience of the land and nature and it is now his thing.